The Clever Knife Hack To Clean Those Hard-To-Reach Places In The Kitchen

A quick reset of your kitchen in the evening sets you up for success the following day. However, when you've got extra time, an occasional deeper clean that involves a little more elbow grease will make the speedier cleans that are carried out in the meantime more effective. The only problem is those hard-to-reach places that can accumulate grease and grime, such as the small gap where the counter meets the range or fridge. The good news? There's a hack for that! All you need is a regular butter knife, a cloth, and a rubber band to create a nifty, slimline tool that's the ideal shape for shifting stubborn grime.

To fashion your tool, take your knife and cover it with a cleaning cloth (you'll need one that has a thick texture, preferably made of microfiber, so the edge of the knife doesn't poke a hole through it). Then place a rubber band or small hair elastic over the cloth to keep it in place. Finally, use the tip of the covered knife to gently scrape off any dirt or grease that's gathered at the back of your counters, on the edges of drawers, around cupboard handles, or along your microwave. As this handy little implement has a slim profile, it can be snugly run along any tight nooks and crannies where sticky substances can hide.

The tip of your knife should be able to get under the grime and peel it right off. However, if it isn't coming away, you might need to wet your cloth with water and wring it out first. The moisture in the fabric and its absorbent nature will soften harder areas of grease (especially if you use hot water) and encourage them to come away without the use of chemical-laden cleaning sprays. Microfiber cloths are especially good for this task because they're positively charged and naturally attract negatively charged grease. Plus, they can be laundered up to a thousand times, dried quickly, and reused. 

For particularly tight areas that are too small for your knife to maneuver around, an old credit card or a bread clip makes a fantastic tool for cleaning your kitchen. These dinky bits of plastic can be used like scrapers to dislodge dirt in hard-to-reach areas. Moreover, they're made of a firm but flexible material, which means they won't snap under pressure when run along the edge of countertops, right where the surface meets the stove. If forgotten particles of food cling to this channel, they can begin to smell and harbor bacteria. Another part of your kitchen you definitely aren't cleaning enough might be your light switches and sockets. Simply wipe them down with a cloth and hot, soapy water.